Culture and the Cuban State

Participation, Recognition, and Dissonance under Communism

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, Government, Communism & Socialism, International, International Relations
Cover of the book Culture and the Cuban State by Yvon Grenier, Lexington Books
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Yvon Grenier ISBN: 9781498522243
Publisher: Lexington Books Publication: November 8, 2017
Imprint: Lexington Books Language: English
Author: Yvon Grenier
ISBN: 9781498522243
Publisher: Lexington Books
Publication: November 8, 2017
Imprint: Lexington Books
Language: English

Culture and the Cuban State examines the politics of culture in communist Cuba. It focuses on cultural policy, censorship, and the political participation of artists, writers and academics such as Tania Bruguera, Jesús Díaz, Rafael Hernández, Kcho, Reynier Leyva Novo, Leonardo Padura, and José Toirac. The cultural field is important for the reproduction of the regime in place, given its pretense and ambition to be eternally “revolutionary” and to lead a genuine “cultural revolution”. Cultural actors must be mobilized and handled with care, given their presumed disposition to speak their mind and to cherish their autonomy. This book argues that cultural actors also seek recognition by the main (for a long time the only) sponsor and patron of the art in Cuba: the “curator state”. The “curator state” is also a “gatekeeper state,” arbitrarily and selectively opening and closing the space for public expression and for access to foreign currencies and the global market. The time when everything was either mandatory or forbidden is over in Cuba. The regime seems to have learned from egregious mistakes that led to a massive exodus of artists, writers and academics. In a country where things change so everything could stay the same, the controlled opening in the cultural field, playing on the actors' ambition and fear, illuminates a broader phenomenon: the evolving rules of the political game in the longest standing dictatorship of the hemisphere.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Culture and the Cuban State examines the politics of culture in communist Cuba. It focuses on cultural policy, censorship, and the political participation of artists, writers and academics such as Tania Bruguera, Jesús Díaz, Rafael Hernández, Kcho, Reynier Leyva Novo, Leonardo Padura, and José Toirac. The cultural field is important for the reproduction of the regime in place, given its pretense and ambition to be eternally “revolutionary” and to lead a genuine “cultural revolution”. Cultural actors must be mobilized and handled with care, given their presumed disposition to speak their mind and to cherish their autonomy. This book argues that cultural actors also seek recognition by the main (for a long time the only) sponsor and patron of the art in Cuba: the “curator state”. The “curator state” is also a “gatekeeper state,” arbitrarily and selectively opening and closing the space for public expression and for access to foreign currencies and the global market. The time when everything was either mandatory or forbidden is over in Cuba. The regime seems to have learned from egregious mistakes that led to a massive exodus of artists, writers and academics. In a country where things change so everything could stay the same, the controlled opening in the cultural field, playing on the actors' ambition and fear, illuminates a broader phenomenon: the evolving rules of the political game in the longest standing dictatorship of the hemisphere.

More books from Lexington Books

Cover of the book Contemporary Issues in Victimology by Yvon Grenier
Cover of the book Jacques Pierre Brissot in America and France, 1788–1793 by Yvon Grenier
Cover of the book The Meaning of Gay by Yvon Grenier
Cover of the book Liminal Bodies, Reproductive Health, and Feminist Rhetoric by Yvon Grenier
Cover of the book Volatile Social Movements and the Origins of Terrorism by Yvon Grenier
Cover of the book Killing Congress by Yvon Grenier
Cover of the book Memorials in Berlin and Buenos Aires by Yvon Grenier
Cover of the book Political Poetry in the Wake of the Second Spanish Republic by Yvon Grenier
Cover of the book The Work of Play by Yvon Grenier
Cover of the book Examining Human Rights Issues and the Democracy Project in Sub-Saharan Africa by Yvon Grenier
Cover of the book Malaysia in the World Economy (1824–2011) by Yvon Grenier
Cover of the book Beyond Same-Sex Marriage by Yvon Grenier
Cover of the book Marx and Hegel on the Dialectic of the Individual and the Social by Yvon Grenier
Cover of the book Queer Voices from Japan by Yvon Grenier
Cover of the book New Immigrants, Changing Communities by Yvon Grenier
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy